Vacuum-controlled system for radiators.



G. MEHRING.

VACUUM CONTROLLED SYSTEM FOR RADIATORS.

APPLICATION FILED 001113, 1910.

Patented Aug. 1, 1911.

s SHEETSSHEET 1.

G. MEI-IRING. VACUUM CONTROLLED SYSTEM FOR RADIATORS.

APPLIOATION FILED OGT.13, 1910.

Patented Aug. 1, 1911.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

G. MEHRING.

VACUUM GONTROLLBD SYSTEM FOR RADIATORS.

APPLICATION IILED 00113, 1910.

999,329. Patented Aug. 1,1911.

3 SHE'ETSBHEET 3.

GEORGE MEI-IRING, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

VACUUM-CONTROLLED SYSTEM FOR RADIATORS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Au 1, 1911.

Application filed October 13, 1910. Serial No. 586,877.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE MEHRING, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Vacuum ControlledSystems for Radiators, of which the following is a specification.

Prior to the present invention it has been common practice to controlthe admission of steam or other heating fluid by a valve actuated by airor other pneumatic pressure.

For this purpose a motor has been employed which consists of a chamberhaving a diaphragm or piston connected to the stem of the valvecontrolling the admission of heating fluid. The chamber on one side ofthe piston of such motor is'connected to some suction means, as forexample a vacuum pump, and the other side of the piston or diaphragm hasbeen open to the air so that when the connection to the pump is open theair pressure forces the pump or diaphragm inward, or, as it is morecommonly expressed, the suction draws the piston or dia phragm. A valvecontrolled by a thermostat or other means has been used to control theconnection of the motor to a-pump. In order to operate the piston ordiaphragm in the other direction a spring has been employed and in orderto relieve the vacuum and permit the spring to operate the movableelement a small opening is usually formed in the casing which admits airconstantly to the vacuum chamber. When the chamber is in communicationwith the pump, the operation of the latter is suflicient to overco-niethe air-admission. When, however, the pump is cut 01f by the valve, theair supplied quickly raises the pressure in the vacuum chamber andpermits the spring to operate, the opening being made sufli cientlylarge to permit this operation to take place within a reasonable time.It has further been proposed to use such a vacuum controlin connectionwith a radiator syssecuring circulation or of keeping the ra-- diatorssutficiently free of air alone, a high vacuum is not. essential. On theother hand, where a large number of radiators are connected in thesystem the air constantly drawn in through the openings in eachof theseveral motors becomes in the aggregate a considerable quantity,necessitating, if a lowpressure is to be maintained, an increasedcapacity on the part of the vacuum pump. Furthermore, since the Vacuummust overcome the pressure of the springs above referred to, it has tobe considerable or else an obtrusively large motor must be used to getthe required power.

' It is the objectof my invention to overcome this objection to theemployment of the vacuum or pneumatic motor in such systems and-withthis object in view I so construct and install my motors that they areoperated in each direction by'air pressure, thus dispensing entirelywith the spring and also with the constantly open air vent.

In the drawings accompanying this specification and forming part of theapplication, Figure 1 shows my invention applied to that form ofradiator systems in WlllCh there is no return pipe for the system butan' air valve is employed to which is connected an exhausting means;Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of a preferred form of pressuremotor; Fig. 3 is a similar view of an alternative form of motor; Figs.4, 5 and 6, are views partly in section of various forms of valves forcontrolling the pressure in the motor {and Fig. 7 is a view of myinvention as applied to a radiator system in which a return pipe for thesteam and Water of condensation is employed.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1, the radiator A is of a well-knowntype and supplied with steam from a main B through a valve C. An airvalve a is connected to the radiator on the one hand and to a vacuumpump E on the other, the latter connection being made by means of thepipe 43. The valve G is controlled and operated by a motor D, which isoperated by differences in pressure upon opposite sides of itsmovableelement.

In the preferred form of pressure motor shown in Fig. 2 the chamberthereof is connected directly with the casing of the valve.- The valvecasingis shown at 7 and is of a well-known form provided with aninternally threaded connection at 8 and an external connection at 9, thelatter having a ground seat 10 for the reception of the pipe section 11.The latter is provided with a flange or collar 12 for engagement withthe coupling nut 13. The valve 14 is provided with a packing 15 toengage the seat 16 which packing is held in place by a nut 17 on a screw18 formed integral with the valve. On its upper face the valve isprovided with a flange 19 which surrounds a head 20 on the valve stemfor securing the parts together for common movement.

The chamber of the pressure motor is formed in two sections, the upperof which is in the shape of a cylinder 21 open at its bottom andprovided at its lower edge with an external screw thread 22 whichengages an internal thread formed on a flange 23 on the bottom of themotor chamber. The bottom 24 of the motor chamber forms the top of thevalve chamber and for this purpose is provided witha central upwardlyextending hollow boss 25 apertured at 27- for the passage of the valvestem 26, and the bottom of the motorchamber is likewise provided with adownwardly extending annular flange 28 concentric with the boss andinternally screw-threaded at 29 for connection with the upper open endof the valve casing. A sleeve 30 surrounds the valve stem near its upperend and projects through the opening in the boss 25, the projecting endbeing screw-threaded as at 31 for the reception of a nut 32 to secure itin position. Packing of the valve stem is dispensed with by employing ametallic bellows-like diaphragm 33 connected to the sleeve 30 at itsupper end and extending beneath the head 20 on the valve stem andbetween the latter and the surrounding flange 19. The upper end of thevalve stem supports a circular disk 34 to which it is secured by meansof a socket 35. Another diaphragm 36 of the bellows type surrounds thevalve rod 26 and disk 34 and is clamped at its lower edge between themeetmg faces of the pressure chamber 21 and the'bottom thereof 24, asshown at 37. Tapped openings 38 and 39 are provided in the bottom andside wall respectively of the motor chamber for the connection of thepipes through which pressure is supplied.

These plpes shown at 40, 41, Fig. 1, are connected to a valve 42 whichis in turn conare intended and adapted for manual 0011- trol, whereas inFig. 5 I have shown a valve which is thermostatically controlled. Itwill be obvious, however, that other forms of valve might be employedwithout departing from the spirit of my invention. The form of valveshown in Fig. 4 is a four-way cock connected at opposite ports 44 and 45respectively to pipes 40 and 41 and by an intermediate port 46 with thepipe 43. A port 47 opposite the port 46 leads to the atmosphere. Thecook 48 may be of any wellknown type with the usual handle. Theoperation of my system is obvious. WVith the cook 48 in the positionshown in Fig. 4,air

will enter the pipe 48 and the upper end of the motor D and at the sametime be exhausted from the lower side of the motor through pipes 41 and43, the steam valve 14 being thereby depressed upon its seat. To openthe steam valve it is only necessary to revolve the cpck a quarter turnwhereupon the pipe 41 will be open to the atmosphere and the pipe 40connected to the vacuum pump. The pressures in the pressure motor willbe correspondingly changed and the valve raised to admit steam to theradiator.

lVhile the form of pressure motor shown in Fig. 2 and heretoforedescribed, is my preferred form, it is obvious that modification thereincan be made without departing from the scope of my invention. Thus apiston movable in a cylinder might be substituted for the diaphragm, oras shown in Fig. 3, the diaphragm form of apparatus may be retained butthe details thereof varied. In the last mentioned form the. valvechamber 7 and valve 14 are substantially like those heretofore describedwith reference to Fig. 2. The open upper end of the valve chamber,however, is internally threaded as at 49 to receive a cap 50 which isprovided with an upward, extension 51 through which the valve rod 52extends and is packed by a gland 53 which may be of the usual type. At apoint intermediate its base and upper end the cap is provided with ashoulder 54 and a reduced screw threaded portion 55 for the reception ofa collar 56 having upwardly extendlng arms 57, 57, which support thepressure chamber. The nut 58 engaging the reduced screw threaded portionholds the collar-in place. The motor chamber is formed of an upper and alower section 59, 60, between which the edge of the diaphragm isclamped. The lower section'is centrally bored at .61 and tapped for thereception ofthe gland 62 which surrounds the valve rod 52. The upperportion of the shell or casing is spherical and provided with dependingcars 63 which are screwed to the supports 57 and provided with a socket64 for the reception of the end of one of the pipes 40 connecting to thecontrol valve 42. The lower section of the casing is bored at 65 for thereception of the end of the other pipe 41. The valve stem is screwedinto a socket 66 and secured in posit-ion by the set nut 67, the socketbeing suitably connected to a disk 68 the upper surface of which isspherical in configuration to conform to the interior of the uppersection of the motor casing. The operation of this pressure motor issubstantially like that of the motor shown in Fig. 2 and heretoforedescribed but whereas the first described modification requires nopacking between the valve chamber and the motor chamber the constructionshown in Fig. 3 requires two packings.

In the pressure controlling means shown in Fig. 5 the connection 43 tothe vacuum pump is branched at 69, the branches 70 and 71 diverging to apair of valve casings 72, 73, which are duplicates in every respect.Above the valves the pipes or conduits are again brought together as at74 though they do not merge but lead separately to the spaces above andbelow the movable septum of the motor as heretofore described. Eachvalve casing contains the usual seat 75 and the internally threadedopening 76 with which latter engages a cap 77. Each cap 77 is providedwith a bore 78 for the passage of the valve stem, the bore at its innerend terminating in a valve seat 79. Each valve 80 is attached to itsstem by a lost motion connection 81 and the stem which is enlarged as at82 inside the valve casing is provided with a valve shoulder 83 whichengages the valve seat 79. The valve stem does not closely fit the borein the valve cap but on the contrary is of materially less diameter sothat when the valve is away from its seat 79 air may freely enter aroundthe valve stem. The lost motion connec tion heretofore referred topermits the seating of the valve 80 except when the valve stem is in itsoutermost posit-ion. The two valve stems are connected to a bi-metallicthermostat 83 011 opposite sides of the same and the thermostat issupported from a plate or bar 84 spanning the pipes 40, 41 in theposition shown. It will be obvious from the description given above thatas" the valves are moved to admit air to one of the pipes 40 or 41, theadmission of air to the other pipe is cut off and the connection to thevacuum pump opened.

In the form of valve mechanism shown in Fig. 6 the valves and theircasings are substantially like those described in connection with Fig. 5but one of the valve stems is &

provided with a thread 85 which meshes with the corresponding thread inthe cap 77 and buttons 86 mounted on arms rigidly connected to thecommon valve stem 87 serve to partially rotate the latter andreciprocate the valves. The valve stem 87 is also provided with acranked or offset portion 88 intermediate its ends to which is secured aspring 89 anchored at the other end in an eye 90 mounted on pipe 70.When the crank 80 is turned past its intermediate position in eitherdirection the spring 89 will tend to retain it against areversal untilsulficient pressure is applied to one or the other buttons to overcomethe tension of the spring. Either of the last described valves can besubstituted for the more simple turning plug shown in Fig. 4 anddescribed in connection with the entire system, or as will be obvious avariety of other forms of valve is adapted to this purpose.

It will now be clear from the above description that in my system ofvacuum con trol for radiators motors of comparatively small size may beused without requiring a high vacuum to be maintained and also withoutgreatly increasing the capacity of. the vacuum pump employed. Bydispense ing with the spring it is only necessary to overcome thefriction of the parts in moving the valve and to supply sufficientpressure to maintain the latter on its seat when the valve is to be keptclosed. There is no constantly maintained admission of air to becounteracted but, on the other hand, air is only admitted when theposition of the valve is changed as will be readily understood. Boththese advantages are achieved with only the comparatively imn' aterialaddition 'to the cost of the installation occasioned by the necessityfor a double inmight occur would escape into that portion of thepressure chamber surroumling the valve stem and be drawn off by thesuction pump whenever communication is opened thereto from beneath thediaphragm.

In Fig. 7 my improvement is shown attached to another of the forms ofradiator systems heretofore referred to. In this system the steam supplypipe and the valve controlling the same and radiator may besubstantially like that heretofore described, but a return pipe forsteam and condensation is employed. which is shown at E in the drawingwith the usual trap E. In this case a low pressure is maintained in thepipe E by sure pipe 42 from the valve 42 1s tapped into a T in the pipeE By this means the valve 42 may connect either pipe 40 or 41 withsuction, the construction and operation of the motor D being asheretofore described in connection with the system shown in Fig. 1..lVhat I claim is:

1. In a steam heating system including a radiator and suction meanscommunicating with the interior of the radiator, the com bination of avalve for controlling the passage of heating fluid thereto, -a doubleact.- ing pressure motor connected to the valve for operating the sameand having a movable septum, said suction means connected to the motoron both sides of the movable septum, and means for opening connectionbetween the suction means and. either side alone of the septum and forsimultaneously effecting communication between the opposite side of theseptum and a source of higher pressure.

2. In a steam heating system comprising a radiator and suction meanscommunicating with the interior of the radiator, the

- combination of a valve for controlling the admission of heating fluidthereto, a double acting pressure motor connected to the valve foroperating the same, said suction means connected to opposite ends of themotor, and means for opening the connection between the suction meansand either end alone of the motor and for simultaneously efiectingcommunication between the opposite side ofthe motor and a source ofhigher pressure.

3. In a steam heating system comprising a radiator and suction meanscommunicating with the interior thereof, the combination of a valve forcontrolling the passage of heating fluid to the radiator, a doubleacting motor having a sheet metal bellows diaphragm controlling thevalve, connections from said suction means and a source of higherpressure to opposite sides of the diaphragm, and means for opening theconnection between the suction means and either side alone of thediaphragm and for smiultaneously effecting communication between theopposite'side of the diaphragm and a source of higher pressure.

L In a steam radiator system comprising a radiator and suction meansconnected to the interior thereof, the combination of a valve forcontrolling the flow of heating tluid to the radiator, a double actingpressure motor having a movable septum for actuating the valve, a valveand connections for connectmg the suction means with either side of thepressure motor adapted to connect either side alone of the septum withthe suction means and simultaneously effect communication of theopposite side.

through the radiator, a motor connected to the valve for operating thesame, consisting of a movable septum arranged in a chamber, means foropening the connection between the suction means and either side aloneof the septum and for simultaneously effecting communication between theopposite side of the septum and a source of higher pressure.

6. In a radiator system the combination of a radiator, means forsupplying steam thereto, a suction apparatus connected With the interiorof the radiator, a valve con trolling the circulation of steam throughthe radiator, a motor for operating the valve consisting of a chamberhaving a movable septum therein, connections from the opposite sides ofthe septum to said suction means, a valve for controlling theconnections from the motor chamber to the suction means, and also forcontrolling the admission of air to the motor.

GEORGE MEHRING. lVitnesses ROBERT DOBBERMANN, LOUIS'B. ERWIN.

